It's okay, you can yell at me for taking so long, as usual. This seems to be one of my weaker chapters, I dunno. As someone pointed out, I contradicted myself about when Lucy went to school as a child. Okay, here's the deal. She only went to Kindergarten, even though I said it was first grade or something in an earlier chapter. Sorry about that!

Do you have any idea how hard it is to write about someone who would obviously swear, without swearing?

Also, a note I have to make is this; I'm not a professional writer. It's hard for me to look at the whole picture of things, and that includes this. I kinda just write whatever, you know? So I apologize if the story kind of drags on in places or something...

As always, thanks for favoriting, following, reviewing and reading! It's much appreciated :D

Chosen song for this chapter is Monster by Imagine Dragons


Our science class is slowly getting more and more students. Apparently the real class is too hard for anyone to keep up with. Now I recognize half the students here, including Levy and her friends.

The teacher, whose name I can never remember, is freakin' scary, even for me. She doesn't tolerate any messing around, especially if the kids in question have a bad record. Like me.

"Anyone caught napping will be sent to detention."

"Anyone who doesn't complete their homework will be sent to detention."

"Anyone doodling instead of taking notes will be sent to detention."

"Anyone who refuses to co-operate will be sent to detention."

"Anyone talking about an unrelated matter during class will be sent to detention."

And that's how I ended up in detention with most of the class. It starts after school is over, so I already went to the other extra classes with Gildarts and Natsu. Speaking of which, that fish-headed jerk never apologized for sticking gum in my hair the other day!

Today's punishment is setting up for a Christmas party. They don't care that it's ten degrees outside, we're still stuck putting up balloon figures.

I'm working in the front with Levy, Lisanna, Erza and some other girl while the boys hang the lights up.

Shivering, I stuff my hands in my hoodie pocket and step back to take a look at my work. Man, reindeer are more complicated than they appear. I can't help smiling a little at my accomplishment though.

"It looks good, Lucy." Levy comments, startling me.

My frown comes back. "Oh, you're talking to me now?"

She rolls her eyes and continues working on her Santa Claus cut out.

Once we're done, the other girls head inside but Levy stays behind and waves me over. Scowling, I stalk towards her. What does she want?

"Hey, um… I've been thinking…."

"Shocker."

She pouts but continues. "This fight's been going on for too long."

My jaw almost drops. "Did you forget who started it in the first place?"

"No," she shakes her head. "I admit that ignoring you is my fault, but you're the one who was mean to Lisanna in the first place!"

"Here we go again," I mutter and turn to go back inside. At this rate we'll just keep fighting.

I hear Levy give a huff from behind me but she doesn't stop me.


Jude already stopped his apology act from last week, so I haven't been eating very much aside from what I sneak out of the kitchen. With a growling stomach and a cold, I shuffle into the dining room and peek around the corner.

Darn it, some dude is standing watch. My stomach gives an even louder grumble and I mimic it with a heavy heart. No dinner today, it seems.

By the third week of this new 'game' I honestly tried to stop using these supposedly bad words, but ultimately failed. It's like telling a kid to stop laughing, or a baby to stop crying. Hopeless.

Alright, enough whining. Climbing up the stairs to my bedroom, my eyes dart to the heavy oak door to the left. Of course Jude isn't home, but still… He's been acting weird. It's like he forgot that he punched me or something, even though that's impossible. I know he remembers.

Anyways, maybe it's better this way. If he wants to pretend it didn't happen then things can go back to the way they were before.

While getting changing into a tee-shirt, I berate myself for acting like I wanna be here. But that's wrong; it's not here that I like, it's school. There, it's out in the open!

Natsu, Gildarts, even Levy; all the people at school are so different from what I'm used to, and it's time to admit that they're growing on me. It's entertaining to watch the teachers yell at the boys, or see the girls giggle over said animals. Gildarts can be annoying, but at least he gives a crap about me.

There's no way in heck I'm letting them know, though. A shudder comes over me just thinking about what would happen if they found out I don't completely hate them.

I sigh, rearranging my big blanket to cover my toes. Life is too complicated as it is, without someone like Natsu getting a big head because I slightly enjoy hanging out with him. In my defense, that feeling was practically forced on me. Gildarts left me with no choice, always making me hang out with pinkie… I was just sick of always being miserable.

Yeah, that's it. I didn't have any other choice.


Like a bad dream, a mop of pink hair moves towards me. Scowling, I jerk the rope of lights in my hand so that the dangling part whacks Natsu in the face.

"My bad."

Rubbing his cheek, Natsu looks up at me with a frown. "Get off of that ladder and you're dead meat, jerk."

"Stay away from me and I'll stop rewriting your essays for the witch's class."

His jaw drops. "Is that why she's been giving me weird looks lately?!"

Shrugging, I step down from the ladder and wave to Erza that my side of the roof is done.

Natsu looks like he might actually be upset, making me pause in my task of tying ornaments on trees. "What? It's a class for failures anyways, so why does your grade matter? Nothing we do in there counts on record."

Kicking a snow-covered stone, he doesn't reply. With another shrug, I continue carrying out my punishment from said hag. Even though I'm already in detention, getting on her bad side is not something anybody wants.

Eventually Natsu leaves to help Gray carry in decorations or something from a teacher's car, and I finish up with the ornaments.

Shivering violently, I miserably realize that with the way detention has been going, I'll most likely have a non-stop cold until after Christmas, and that's assuming the pink-haired witch doesn't find some other outside job for us.

"Hot chocolate's over there." Lisanna informs me, pointing to a fold up table on the sidewalk. Ignoring her, I glance at our handiwork, spread throughout the entire front of the building. Balloons, lights, ornaments; if I didn't know any better I'd think the old sleigh-rider himself was stopping by.

"Great work, boys and girls!" A teacher calls from her car as she pulls away, surprising me a little. Most people shy away from us 'trouble kids', which is what the detention group is collectively known as. Some teachers know us as the 'troubled kids', a much more offensive nickname.

Once the day's chores are finished we tend to gather in an empty classroom to warm up for a bit and stuff. Plus the teacher in charge of us has to sign us out before we can leave.

"The party's only a week away," Levy excitedly announces. "It had better be worth all this work!"

Glancing at the boys, I see they're disengaged from the conversation as usual. It looks like they're crushing the foam cups we drank hot chocolate out of.

"Do you think we'll have to work during it or something? You know, since we're in detention…" Here comes Lisanna's pity party.

The teacher sets about reassuring her that the most we'll have to do is help with the clean up, which most kids do anyways.

Dang, Natsu just got his fingers crushed by the kid with the piercings.

I'm kind of on my own here. There are basically two groups, and both of them have sort of half-accepted me as a part of them. Gildarts' boys and Levy and her friends. I don't really mind. Not really.

"Oi, Lucy."

My eyes turn to glare at Gray. He doesn't seem to get the message and waves me over. Great, the idiots want a playmate...

Stalking over, I pull up a chair and lean my chin on my hand. "What do you want, color-wonder?"

"Color wonder?" He scowls but jerks his head over his shoulder. "Do you have enough girl in you to do a bit of sweet-talk?"

My face twists into a grimace. "What, you wanna chat with the chicks? Get your resident playboy to do it."

The orange-haired boy next to Gray pulls a face. "Oh shut up, blondie."

"Eh? You got a problem with me?" I retort, directing my naturally harsh gaze towards him.

He doesn't reply, just looks away, so Natsu speaks up, having recovered from his injury. "Loke doesn't like you since you turned him down."

I scoff. "Oh no, did I upset the little guy?"

Natsu laughs at that, while the gangster guy smirks a little.

"Anyways," Gray mutters, his face dusted with a shade of pink. "Can't you help a brother out? Er, I mean… Friend… No, that's not right. Classmate?"

What the frick…? With a mocking shake of my head, it's hopefully made clear to Gray that it won't be that easy.

A smirk slowly appears on his face. "You thought I wasn't prepared for this, punk?" He reaches into his pocket. Is this bribery?

"How's this?"

I slowly peer into his cupped hand.

Good grief, Gray… Snatching the candy bar I reluctantly get to my feet, shoving my hands into my pockets. If I wasn't so hungry he'd be dead for making a bogus offer like that.

As soon as the girls see me, Levy offers a little smile. "Hey…"

What'd he say? Sweet talk? Okay, I got this.

"Yo."

Darn it Lucy, you screwed up.

Lisanna, as usual, gives a big smile. "H!"

"Hello." Erza replies.

"What's up?" Man you suck at this.

"Not much. We were just talking about the party."

The shrimp is getting her nerves up, that's for sure. "What's it like?" I don't give a crap, but for the sake of conversation… I hide a shudder. Small talk is the worst.

"Oh right, you just transferred here. I mean not just, but… Yeah…" She trails off, so Lisanna takes over.

"It's really fun! I mean it's not that different from any other party, but everyone is your age here." She chuckles and continues. "Principal Makarov always has this contest for the best costume, although it's really embarrassing to get picked… Also, the girls' winner never changes." At this she glances at Erza, who has been keeping silent the whole time.

The red-head looks like she was thinking about something serious. When she notices the three of us staring at her she frowns. "What is it?"

Lisanna pokes her in the shoulder. Was that supposed to hurt? "We were just talking about the costume contest!"

Smirking, Erza folds her arms. "Yes, it's true that I never lose when it comes to contests!"

I'm a little confused. "Didn't you just transfer here or something?" As I speak, my eyes meet Gray's, who is impatiently signalling for me to hurry up.

Levy gains her voice again. "Actually she's been here longer than us, but a lot of times personal issues force her to withdraw for a while."

It's hard not to yawn if your mind is constantly thinking about it. Seriously, is it magic? Great, I just yawned. "I'm too tired to stand." Sure you are. "Come on, we're sitting down over there."

The three girls blink at my command, and it hits me. Girls don't talk like that. "Ugh, you're so picky. Get your freaking butts over there before I kick 'em." Screw the sweet-talk.

Gray meets my eyes again, only this time there's a huge grin on his face. I squeeze a chair in between him and Loke to make room for the girls, who suddenly turned shy. Well, Erza doesn't look any different.

"Let me get this straight. None of you have girlfriends, and none of them have boyfriends?" I whisper to Gray, who nods.

"Dude, not to compliment you guys, but none of you are ugly or anything, and your classmates seem to like you. What's the hold up?"

He doesn't reply, just ignores me to greet Levy, annoyingly enough.

Alright, this is boring. I stare at Lisanna, who's oblivious to me since she can't take her eyes off of Natsu.

"Hey Natsu, what happened to your hand?" She questions, staring at Natsu's red fingers.

Her object of attention gives her a scowl. "Gajeel missed the cups and hit my hand."

Lisanna's mouth drops open. "Oh my gosh, are you okay?" Then she giggles. "I don't even know what that means! He missed the cups?"

Both sisters are bipolar.

While Natsu explains what happened to his white-haired companion, I shift my gaze to stare at a certain bookworm who, like her friend, is giving all her attention to a boy.

"So, um, Gajeel… Do you read much?" She hesitantly starts, looking down at the table. If she's scared of him why start a conversation?

So Gajeel is his name. I thought it was something like that. He never smiles, and now isn't an exception. Crap, that girl had better not ask me to rescue her or something. I'm not bailing her out if she gets scared.

"No." He almost looks upset at his own answer, but Levy doesn't notice because she's too much of a coward to fricken look at him.

They continue their 'conversation' in awkward silence, so I turn to where Erza and Gray are quietly holding a discussion about something.

"Why'd you join the student council, anyways?"

Erza sighs, her stern expression softening for just a second. "Principal Makarov told me that in order to graduate I have to make up for all the time I've lost."

"So basically he forced you into it?" Gray chuckles a little, differently than when he's just with the guys. "Jeez, Gramps sure knows how to get what he wants."

"Yes."

Boring, boring and more boring. All they're talking about is weird stuff I neither understand nor want to. Finally I collapse my head on the table, and open my eyes to absent-mindedly stare at the person next to me; Loke.

He doesn't acknowledge me and looks slightly past my head to where I'm pretty sure Natsu and Lisanna are sitting. Suddenly he takes his stupid fancy sunglasses off for a quick scratch, and I find myself staring into a pair of light blue eyes.

"Dude…"

This gets him to look at me with the scowl that's so popular today but I ignore it in favor of satisfying my boredom.

"What's up with your eyes?"

"As far as I know, nothing." He retorts, making me roll my own eyes.

"They're freakin' cool, and that's not something I say everyday."

This causes his face to brighten up a little, and I can't help wondering why compliments mean so much to him. Is all his self-esteem held in his appearance? Remind me not to take notes from this guy, because my looks are nothing to brag about.

"Go ahead and head home now, but don't forget to come back tomorrow." Our teacher finally calls. Douche, acting like it's a sure thing we'll end up in detention again!

I glance at the other kids, who are still talking to one another. They don't make any sign of getting up, so without hesitation I grab my bag and head out the door.

The snow hits me like a punch to the face; trust me, that doesn't feel good. Seriously?! If those stupid little decorations blow away I swear someone will be dead tomorrow!

It must have shocked those guys that I'm the first out, since usually I'll take any excuse just to stay late. Not today, though. Jude has been questioning me about why I'm always late recently. Lying isn't bad if it's a life or death situation, right? I mean if he found out I'm in detention he'd kill me. I lied, but that means coming up with some other excuse now. Too bad I forgot about that 'till now.

Muttering curses under my breath I stagger through the mountains of snow, hands freezing even inside of my fuzzy hoodie pocket. Holy crap I'm not even out of the parking lot and I'm about to die!

"Hot chocolate, hot shower with scalding water, a nice dinner, frick just a dry hoodie!" I mumble to myself, similar thoughts running through my head. How much farther? A mile or two? Geez, where'd this storm even come from?

I nearly collapse out of shock when a car blares it's horn right freaking next to me.

"What the frick, man?! Watch where you're using that thing!" I shout, knowing full well the person can't hear me with all this wind.

Suddenly the window of the SUV rolls down, making squeaks thanks to the snow covering it.

"Hop in, kid."

"Old man." I mutter but don't hesitate to slide into the passenger seat. Gildarts grins and continues driving, reaching over to turn up the heat.

On the main street now, we're caught up in the major traffic jam. "Dang it, what's up with the crazy weather?"

My grumbling goes unanswered by Gildarts, who knocks my feet off of the dashboard. "Sit up straight and get buckled or I'm kicking you out."

Rolling my eyes half-heartedly I reluctantly sit up. "Whatever. We're not even moving. Anyways, why are you leaving so late?"

"A student needed help with her math."

"Did you do it because she's hot or something?"

"You have brain damage."

My eyes shift to the window, even though it's impossible to see out of right now.

The car in front of us slides a little on the snow, and Gildarts screeches to a stop before we crash into them. "Oh yeah, where do you live?"

I point out of my window. "That street."

"Why didn't you say so sooner?" He exclaims, veering sharply to the right. "This is not the day to be driving around for no reason."

My street, being used by a bunch of rich people, is already plowed.

I can tell Gildarts is curious about the mansions but I don't feel like explaining my situation. "The one up there."

Our driveway is long and windy, but the old man ignores my command to drop me off at the bottom.

Sighing, I shoulder my backpack and hop out of the car. "Thanks."

He gives a nod but rolls the window down, so I wait impatiently. Jude's car is here.

"Are you walking to school tomorrow?"

I raise an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Come on kid, just answer the question."

Ugh, this guy is so freaking nosey. "Yes." I grumble, bounding from one foot to the other. "Can I go now?"

"Yeah, yeah. Just be ready by eight thirty tomorrow morning."

"Huh?"

Gildarts just grins and waves goodbye, shooing me off. I scowl back and dash around to the opposite side of the house. Does that mean he's picking me up or something?

On the back wall, I've learned to climb to my window with the help of a ladder found in the garage. Jude never goes outside except to get to his car, so I highly doubt he'll ever discover this.

With a little bit of scraping and cursing, I clamber through my window, making sure to slide it open slowly so it doesn't squeak.


My breath has barely slowed down when the door slams open.

"I swear, if yo-!" Jude's eyes narrow when he sees me lounging against my window sill.

Luckily my headphones are always handy. Having just jammed them over my ears I slide them off again. "What the frick are you doing in here?"

He sighs exasperatedly. "You are in a mountain of trouble, young lady. Do you expect me to believe you didn't hear me calling you at all?"

I blink. "What are you talking about? Oh, and get your dirty feet off of my carpet."

He purposely takes another step into my room, drawing a glare out of me. "I don't know what stunt you have pulled today but trust me, I will get to the bottom of it."

As an answer, I stubbornly yank the pair of neon green headphones back on my head. "Get lost, geezer."

Since there's no music actually playing, I hear his gruff reply. "I'll tell the maids to put the food away, since you will not be joining us tonight."

Once he's gone, I sink to the floor wearily. "Rotten old man…"

Sighing heavily, my frozen hands struggle to grab the soaked hoodie I'm wearing and yank it off. The next step is my sweats, which are easier to slip out of. The traffic was good for something; giving my clothes time to thaw out.

"Oh shut up…" I irritatedly mutter to my stomach, which is growling furiously in response to every move I make. "I'll feed you tomorrow."

That's right, they haven't let me eat in probably three days by now. Not too bad in it of itself, but it's made worse considering they haven't actually let me eat for at least a week. All I've had are the little smidgens I've managed to sneak out of the kitchen here and there. Seriously, are they trying to kill me?! I thought these people were at least a little bit more civilized than the others.

Okay, time to take a look at my homework. Gildarts has been going easy on us during homeroom, but the hag who teaches us science is not a joke. Granted, she takes into consideration the fact that we're stuck with her for a reason, but it doesn't seem to help. Levy's probably the only one who can keep up with her, and she still ends up in detention.

Spreading my books across the floor I lay on my stomach and randomly choose one to work on.

Math. Alright, I can do that!

Five minutes later and my brain is already going numb. Solve for 'x'? What percent of fifty-three is seven?

Moving on. Ah, reading should be okay after all these classes with Gildarts.

He gave me a list of vocabulary to learn by the end of the week. Seems easy enough.

"Ambigu-o-oh-not that one. Let's see… Ackentuate? Crap, what was it again? We went over these earlier… "

I'd better try something else. Maybe science?

"Atoms are made of extremely tiny parti-particles called proto...protein-is that right?- neutral, and… electronics?" What is that supposed to mean?

Screw this. Rolling over, I nibble on my unused pencil, eyes closed.

"Gosh darn it, stop growling! I know I'm hungry!"


By eight o'clock the next morning, I feel too weak to get out of bed. Food is the only thing I can think about at this point. For Pete's sake I don't even know what day it is! Last night my stomach hurt so much I couldn't fall asleep.

However, my head is out of the clouds long enough to know that I'm supposed to be ready for something in thirty minutes. It's probably safe to assume Gildarts is picking me up, since that's the kind of guy he is.

Sticking my head out the window, it's a relief to see that the snow has stopped coming, although yesterday's flurry has left a lot of remnants. Plus the wind is still going like crazy.

Today is too cold for just a hoodie. Do I have any jackets? A glance in the closet tells me I do not.

Downstairs, I walk straight past the dining room, for once not checking to see if anyone is standing guard. The closet in the front hall always has a lot of coats in it, although I don't know whose they are.

A maid with stunning pink hair is standing next to the door. When I walk over, she smiles hesitantly, knowing how pissed I am with everyone there. In fact I think I've taken it out on her before.

"Can I help you?"

"Uh no, I think you've done enough by starving me."

After a moment's thought, I glance at the now-sulking girl. "Actually, I need to borrow one of these coats. Know who they belong to?"

She peers into the closet thoughtfully. "I believe they used to belong to Mr. Heartfilia's late wife."

"Sweet. She's dead, so it shouldn't matter if I take one."

I ignore her look of offense in favor of sorting through the multitude of jackets. It's not like dead people have feelings, and if she was alive I'm sure she wouldn't want me to freeze. Unless she was like her husband…

Settling with a plain black one, I yank it off the hanger and dash back upstairs.


A car honking at exactly eight thirty confirms my suspicion. Practically leaping down the stairs, backpack bouncing against my back, I struggle into my shoes and hurry outside, avoiding the drifts I accidentally found yesterday.

As I thought, Gildarts' familiar black car is pulled up to the door. Once I reach it, to my surprise Natsu comes out of the back and gestures for me to get in. "'Morning, Lucy."

"Yeah." I reply, seating myself next to a certain raven-haired boy, who glances at me for a second with tired eyes before leaning his head back against the window. Obviously Gray isn't a morning person.

As Natsu closes the door and Gildarts gives me a quick greeting while navigating out of the driveway, I turn around to see even more people in the backseat.

"Good morning!" Levy says with a brighter smile than yesterday. Seems she really meant what she said about making up.

Next to her is a brunette, who doesn't bother to look at me since she's too busy yelling at Loke, who's sitting in the front seat, peering around the seat to glare back at her.

As we drive down the road, Natsu stares in wonder at the fancy houses all around. "I wonder how many people could live in one of those mansions…"

Surprisingly enough, nobody has questioned me about my seemingly rich life. Are those manners, or do they honestly not care?

"So do you guys carpool a lot, or what?" I sullenly ask the pinkie next to me, a sudden onset of depression coming over me when I'm reminded of the pain in my empty gut.

He nods, but it's obvious he's distracted.

"Come on man, they're just houses. It's not like you've never seen one before."

Natsu chuckles, and I get a glimpse of flushed cheeks. "Yeah, yeah, I know… But still, I've always wanted to live in one. Imagine living in a house that big!" He notices my smirk.

"Er… I guess you don't have to imagine it...Uh… never mind. It's stupid anyways."

Shifting in my seat, I glance over my shoulder, catching the last glimpse of my current dwelling. "Nah, you get used to it pretty quickly. I thought it'd be cool at first too, but…"

My voice stops working mid-sentence. Jude punched me in the large bedroom I used to feel safe in. It's been months since my last meal in that stunning dining room. I used to take walks to the gardens, until a stern old maid found out and locked the gates.

"No, it's really not that great at all."

"Hm," Natsu mutters, upset that his fantasy was crushed so quickly. Sighing, I fold my arms, exhausted due to lying awake for most of the night.

Finally pulling into the school parking lot, me and the other kids pile out of the side doors. They stretch and let out loud yawns, shaking out their legs. How long have they been in the car?

"Wait up!" Gildarts calls, immediately drawing our attention.

"What's the one rule for riding with me?"

Levy raises her hand.

"Okay, two rules. First rule; don't raise your hand. This isn't a classroom."

He doesn't make us raise our hands in the classroom either…

"Second rule?"

"Do we have to do this every day?" Gray grumbles. What does that mean? Before I can come up with anything though, our driver/teacher pushes us into a line. Scowling, I feel a wave of relief that barely anyone is here yet.

"You're under my care the minute you step into my car, which means I take responsibility for anything you do. Got it?"

Loke yawns exaggeratedly. "Yeah, yeah, we know."

Gildarts smirks. "Good. Alright, worst is first. Cana?"

I watch as the brown-haired girl steps forward reluctantly, a sullen look on her face. Without hesitation he reaches into her bag and pulls out a glass bottle.

His jaw drops. "You didn't even try to hide it today?!"

"You're getting old, so I thought I'd make it easier for you." Cana answers with a shrug. I think I'm gonna like this girl.

Muttering under his breath, Gildarts moves on to inspect Gray's backpack.

Everyone passes the inspection, with the exception of Cana who is left in a bad mood thanks to her, what I'm assuming was beer, being confiscated.


In the classroom Levy meets up with her friends, and the boys hurry to their seats in the corner, talking about some new RPG game.

The classroom is suddenly separated into two sides again. I stand in the doorway for a second, not sure of where to go. The guys are always more fun, but the girls are a slightly less bunch of idiots.

Woah, what the heck am I thinking? You, Lucy, do not join groups. You stick to yourself and focus on getting through the day.

But didn't that kinda stop applying once I started hanging out with these guys?

Who are you kidding? It's not like they're your friends! Who would want to hang out with such a jerk? You're a charity act, and Gildarts is probably the one who talked them into it.

Oh shut up. I need to stop talking to myself. With that being said-or thought-I stalk to my seat and go about my usual business. Like playing on my phone.

After a few minutes Gildarts walks in and gives his usual greeting, chatting with a few students before actually starting the class.

Today we're learning about how to conduct electricity with potatoes. I've given up trying to find a speck of sanity in here; everyone is nuts. And usually I'm the one who seems nuts for calling out the experiments that never fail to work.


"Come on Haru, hold it up higher so everyone can see."

Embarrassed, the boy stiffly raises his arms so that the shining lightbulb is visible to everyone in the room.

Gildarts gives a short speech on the science behind the experiment we've been working on for the past two hours and claps Haru on the back then continues walking amongst the multiple groups of teens. I was stuck with a bunch of idiots who, annoyingly enough, seem to have the same amount of education as me.

As soon as he walks over here the redhead does exactly what I knew he would do. I knew he would start cracking up!

Wiping his eye dramatically, my obnoxious nuisance of a teacher leans over to get a better look at our creation, even though it's clear we got it wrong. Well, I say 'our', but the other girl is the only one who did anything, and by that I mean she took the fork and painstakingly etched pictures into every single potato. They're actually pretty good, for being what they are. Potato art.

"Now that I get a better look, these are pretty awesome! I like the detail, Kiki."

Our resident artist blushes and ducks her head, her current masterpiece put on hold. "Thanks." She mumbles quietly, while the other bums congratulate her as well, pulled out of their dull trances.

Once he's made it all the way around the room, Gildarts clears his throat loudly. "Now that you've gotten used to your tools, I've got an announcement to make."

A couple groans are quickly shushed with another cough from the teacher.

"As a part of your education, you'll be eating lunch in here today."

That's not too bad. I wouldn't mind not having to be around so many people at once.

"Before you get too excited, there's a flipside! The lights will be turned off! If you want to see what you're eating, you'll have to make a working lamp. This time I don't care who you work with."

Immediately following his speech, the room breaks into loud complaints and whining. Cana, whom I now recognize as one of Levy's friends, glares at anyone who meets her eyes. "You take my booze, and now you're saying I can't even eat in peace?!"

It's pretty obvious she doesn't like Gildarts, who is obviously amused as he sits and laughs to himself at his desk. "Time starts now." He shouts, flipping the light switch, effectively drowning us in immediate darkness since the shades were closed earlier thanks to a pesky flasher hanging around outside.

So far there's only one light in the room, and everyone is too stubborn to go ask if they can borrow it to work on their own lights. Well it doesn't really make a difference to me whether there's a light or not, because I have no lunch. As if I could possibly forget with my stomach freaking growling like a bear!

"Lucy, wanna join our group?" That sounds like Levy.

"Whatever." My reply sounds so weak in the roar of other voices as students either struggle with their potatoes or attempt to find their food.

Scooching my chair up to the clump of desks where Levy and her friends are, my eyes make use of the far away light to discern who's sitting where. Looks like Levy is to my right and Cana is on my other side. Besides them, I can't make out anything more than slightly darker lumps.

"Do we keep going or try eating?" Comes Lisanna's voice from across the table. When no one replies, Levy breaks the silence with a chuckle.

"My eyesight is bad as it is. Maybe we should just eat?"

This is a suggestion well-received by her friends, and they hurry to pull out their lunches, chatting about their different tastes.

As the person next to me crunches rather loudly on a mouthful of chips, her arm wraps around my neck. Immediately, without hesitation, my hand reaches up to grab her wrist with a vice-like grip and twist it away.

"Ow, what was that for?!" She splutters, barely making a din in the loud classroom.

I can almost picture her grimace, as she grumbles to herself.

"What happened?" That sounded like Erza.

"Your friend is being a creep," I snap, on edge after the sudden unwanted touching. "Tell her to keep her hands to herself!"

With a little huff, the blob that I'm assuming is Levy reaches behind my chair to grab the bag of chips from my attacker.

A crinkle is heard, then a sniff. "Cana!" Levy yells, handing the bag back as said girl laughs to herself, just like Gildarts did earlier.

Now that I think about it, there's a certain smell in the air that can only be one thing.

"I thought the old man took your booze?"

Now that Lisanna and Erza are catching on, it's easy to hear their distressed mumbles, the latter being more vocal about her opinion.

"Do you not realize I'm a member of the student council, Cana?" Man, the redhead sounds mad. Is this why everyone is so scared of her? Because there's a distinctive hint of murder in her voice.

"It's just for show, right? I mean you have no idea what you're doing!" The suspect retaliates against the accusations being thrown at her.

The girls make a collective sigh, probably tired of dealing with this. I get the feeling this is a recurring problem.

"Seriously, what was the point of that show earlier if you were just going to sneak the alcohol in through your lunch?"

Too bad it's too dark to see Cana's face after Lisanna's question, which was hurriedly asked before Erza could fire back a retort. The drinker is remaining suspiciously quiet, and even her friends don't seem to know why.

Well after that incident we stay silent for the rest of the hour, the others quietly eating their lunches, Levy at one point having a coughing fit.

As for me, I'm hungrier than ever yet too proud to ask for food. The cries of my stomach go unheard, although I'm not sure whether or not that's a good thing. My pride could probably kill me one way or another.

The instant it turns one o'clock, a moment witnessed by many eager teens staring at their phones, the light is turned on. All of us take a minute to blink and rub our eyes, some of the class clowns hiding underneath their desks.

"Wasn't that fun?" Gildarts calls from where he has apparently been eating with the boys. "Play time's over though. Hurry up to your next class before you get your butts kicked by 'Lady Porlyusica."

As each kid walks by the man who is now leaning against his desk, he gives them an enthusiastic high-five, whispering something to each of them. When it comes to be my turn and I accidentally return the high-five, he places a hand on my head for a brief moment. "I'll get you something to eat later."

As I follow the crowd down the hall, I scratch my head in confusion. How did he know I didn't bring lunch? Oh shoot, I forgot to yell at him for touching me!


After science I head to my reading class, for once beating Natsu since he had to stay behind to help the hag.

For the next hour we mostly just go over vocabulary words. I have a crappy memory, so we're stuck going over the same things as the past few days.

"See you later guys." Natsu calls, giving a stretch before jogging out of the classroom before he's late for detention. I feel a slight amount of jealousy watching him leave, since I'm still stuck in this classroom. Much against my will, the teacher in charge of detention told me to just join the other kids after this class.

Sighing, I lean back and stare at the ceiling. My stomach is so empty it's stealing whatever's in my brain to fill up. Say, isn't it odd that Jude still hasn't figured me out? He's dumb, but dumb enough to completely miss the fact that I've been getting home two hours late everyday? Seriously, it's been almost two weeks…

"Eat up." Gildarts says, jolting me out of my daze. My eyes slowly move down until I find myself staring at a white paper bag.

"McDonalds?"

He nods, shoving the bag a little closer. "Go on. I had a friend drop it off a few minutes ago."

The next few seconds are a twist of confusion. Taking the food will kill off the agonising pain of hunger, but it will also give the dang teacher the illusion that.. I don't know. He's allowed to help me, or something. He doesn't know a thing about me.

My stomach growls louder than ever, pushing Gildarts to give me an oddly stern look. "If you're starving yourself to lose weight, I'm going to report you to Mira."

I roll my eyes, jerking the bag in front of me and peering inside. A delicious smell meets my nose. How long has it been since I had real food? But first things first.

"I'm not starving myself, you moron."

"Then why haven't you been bringing lunch? Oh, and eat that before it gets cold."

Fingers slightly trembling with excitement, I reach into the bag and pull out the first sandwich, the heat radiating from it sending a flutter in my stomach. Without giving my head time to think it over, I tear the wrapping off and demolish it in, at most, ten seconds.

Gildarts' face as he watches me eat is exactly what I was afraid of. That's definitely the face of someone who thinks they're a hero. I mean yeah, he did give me food, but it's not like we're friends. He's merely an inconvenience or, at times like this, slightly helpful.

Finished eating, I lick the grease off my fingers and lean back once more, his eyes following my every move.

"As I asked before, why haven't you been eating?"

A mere shrug isn't enough to throw him off, but it's all I can offer at the moment. What do I say?

"None of your business."

Crossing his arms, Gildarts looks straight at me. His serious modes are kind of scary, a word I'm not used to associating him with. "Whether I act like it or not, I'm your teacher. It is my business."

My eyes narrow. "People like you are the most annoying. You really think that being a teacher gives you the right to interfere with someone's life?"

Now it's his turn to frown. "And you think that being a jerk gives you the right to ignore everyone?"

"People wouldn't think I'm a jerk if they'd just stop trying to butt in! What does it take for you guys to realize that I want nothing to do with you?!"

"You can't run away from the world, kid. For everything you say and do, someone needs to take responsibility." Unlike me, Gildarts remains calm, and his words sink into my head.

Looking away, I stubbornly refuse to answer. The sound of heavy sighing comes from where he's sitting.

"I'll drive you home now, since we're obviously not going to get anything done today."

I turn my head at that. "Seriously?"

He nods, finally grinning like usual. I never realized what a relief it is to have the normal Gildarts.

"I've got detention."

"I'll leave a note."

As we walk to the car, he starts chatting about the class earlier, startling me. What's with the casual talk?

"Oh. Don't you have a carpool?"

"I only drive them here. Erza-you met Erza right?-she drives a few back, and the others get picked up."

"Wait, she can drive?!"

A nod in response.

"Dude, she's like... Sixteen, right?" After all, we're in the same grade.

This time he shakes his head. "Didn't anyone tell you about how she got held back a few times?"

"I heard about when she withdrew or something."

"Anyways, she's actually eighteen. You really thought she was sixteen?" Gildarts gives a laugh, probably planning on telling everyone about this.


This time Gildarts made me get buckled before even starting the car. I do so less reluctantly than yesterday, although a growl escapes me when my jacket gets caught in the latch.

Even when the roads are slippery due to snow being packed down all day, the ginger teacher still has the nerve to glance at me.

"I get that it's cold and everything now, but I've never seen you wear anything but a hoodie, even when it was warmer out. Do you have an emotional attachment or something?"

I snort. "None of your business."

"Here we go again," Gildarts sighs. "It's just a question."

Argh, I'm an idiot! There's no reason to be so defensive! At this rate he'll seriously hate me, which isn't something I want. Wait, why not?

Screw this.

Putting an end to the silent car ride, we pull into my driveway, which Gildarts managed to find from memory.

"See you tomorrow, kid. Same time, okay?"

I shrug, eager to reach the safety of my room. "Whatever. See you, I guess."

He grins, waving cheerfully as he pulls away.

My face falls as soon as the car is out of sight. Turning around, I stare in misery at the mansion, which is covered with sparkling white powder.

Well, there's no putting it off. Jude isn't here now, anyways.

Stepping inside, ignoring the mat to tread snow all over the nice carpet, I make my way to the stairs. As usual, there's a maid around every corner so really why bother trying to hide? Jude will know I got home early, he'll pound me with questions and I'll end up losing a meal I already lost.

In my room, I yank my multiple layers off in exchange for a tee-shirt.

"I've never seen you in anything but a hoodie…"

Really? Is it really necessary to hear the old geezer even when he's not here? I pound my head furiously for replaying his words.

My eyes move down, inch by inch, going over every remnant of the life I've led. My arms… They were the first things I lost, in a sense. Cigarette burns, hands that held on too tightly, bruises, you name it. I didn't use to mind going around in public like this, but eventually the looks I got started to bother me.

When did I start trying so hard to hide my past? It seems like every word out of my mouth these days is simply denying that anything is wrong. Really, it'd be simple to escape this place.

Well, there's nothing simple about anything. Tattling on this guy will result in being moved to a new home. After coming so far, I really don't want to restart all over again.

So that's it. No matter what happens, there's no way I'm gonna destroy what little stability I've found.

As though mocking me, the walls of my bedroom shake as the door is hurriedly opened. Looking around in surprise, my eyes meet that of a maid, who anxiously beckons me to come over, babbling non-stop.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't think he would be s-so upset… Please hurry up, Mr. Heartfilia wants to see you in his office!"

No matter what.

Masking my gut-wrenching fear with a steely glare, I force my legs, which have gone stiff, to move forward.

Before exiting the room, however, I manage to snag my headphones off the bedside table as the maid drags me out the door. With a few swift, experienced motions, I cover my ears and turn on the music.

Just like the old days.


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God Bless :)